Bankruptcy of enterprises located in the occupied territories

In this work, a comprehensive study of the peculiarities of the bankruptcy procedure of enterprises located in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is carried out. The topicality of the research is due to the need of a legal response to the challenges that arose as a result of russia’s large-scale aggression, which is led to the loss of control over enterprises, and also caused legal uncertainty in the regulation of bankruptcy procedures under martial law. In the conditions of war, the additional difficulties arise that require revision and adaptation of the valid legislation. The analysis of the change has been carried out, which are inserted to the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures during Martial Law, which were aimed at providing legal protection of enterprises affected by the war. The legal, economic and social aspects of bankruptcy in the condition of the occupation are being considered, in particular, problems which are related to the loss of access to assets, insufficient evidence base and uncertain legal status of enterprises in the occupied territories. The special attention is paid to the main problems, such as lack of access to debtors’ property, the impossibility of conducting an inventory of assets, the inaccessibility of accounting documents, and also the difficulties with the definition of the location of the governing bodies of enterprises. Jurisprudence in bankruptcy cases during the war demonstrates the variety of the approaches, and also the significant challenges, in particular, the refusal to open proceedings due to the location of assets in the occupied territories. As a result of the research, it has been installed that for the effective regulation of the bankruptcy procedure in wartime, it is necessary to create the special legal mechanisms that will provide access to assets, and also the adaptation of judicial practice to wartime conditions. The importance of the harmonization of the Ukrainian legislation with international standards has been also emphasized. The research indicates to the necessity of further improvement of the legal system to ensure the economic stability and to protect the rights of participants of economic relations in the post-war period.